Naruto Excalibur Episode 1- The A-Ranked Mission
by ebrooks5624
Summary: Jiraiya returns after taking Naruto back to the village from his 2 and a half year training to assign him to an A-Ranked escort mission. Konohamaru and Sakura tag along to what will be the most dangerous and suspense-building mission since their reunition. What comes to worst is when the Akatsuki gets involved and attempts to take the Nine-Tailed jinchuriki to complete their goal.
1. Jiraiya's Return

_Naruto-Excalibur_

Episode 1- The A-Ranked Mission

Well this is my first time using FanFiction, so please excuse me for any mistakes I make. I've chosen Naruto to be my first fanfiction because I been watching a lot of episodes and I loved the series from the very beginning. It only seemed right to use Naruto as my first fanfiction. Anyways, this episode is going to be a good one and it resembles one of the first episodes in the original Naruto series. The clothing in the series matches the clothing in Shippuden, just in case you were wondering. I sincerely hope you like it. Also, I don't own the Naruto or Naruto Shippuden series. I just make fanfictions.

* * *

Naruto just arrived from his last mission to escort a sober from the Land of Rice Patties to the Land of Waves with Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten when Jiraiya appeared in front of him.

"Pervy Sage?!" Naruto exclaimed, confused and excited.

"Wow never thought you'd be glad to see me", Jiraiya replied. "It's almost like you actually missed me."Naruto grinned and watched a smile form on Jiraiya's face.

* * *

"So, what brings you here Pervy Sage?" Naruto and Jiraiya both came to Ichiraku's Ramen Shop to discuss the reason why Jiraiya came. They both had a bowl of miso pork ramen and Naruto reached for a pair of chopsticks while Jiraiya just stared blankly at the bowl. Jiraiya glanced at the young prodigy as he began slurping away. He smiled, recalling previous moments like this.

"I wish it would be to say hello, but you and I both know that whenever I'm here, there's always something important that's going on." Naruto stopped slurping at his ramen and looked up at Jiraiya. He knew it too. There was something that caused Jiraiya to come here and he knew it probably wasn't going to be good. His expression changed from an energetic one to a distressed one.

"After I left you here from your two and a half year training, I wanted to visit an old friend of mine in the Land of Fire." Jiraiya continued, gazing at Teuchi who began making more miso ramen. "A priest there stopped me on my way out to assign me on a mission. He advised me to bring someone along and so I thought of you." Jiraiya turned to Naruto with a grin on his face. But that grin faded when he noticed Naruto pouting with his hands crossed.

"No way," Naruto said, defiantly. "All you're gonna do is stare at naked women and steal all of my money."

"Why you little..."Jiraiya looked at the smile reforming on Naruto's face.

"I was just messing with you" Naruto replied. "But if I'm going, can we at least bring Sakura?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "It's your choice kid" Jiraiya replied, finally reaching for a pair of chopsticks. The two finished their ramen and left the noodle shop.

"Ok kid, find Sakura and meet me at the gate."

"You got it!" Naruto replied and began looking for her. His first stop was obviously Tsunade's mansion because he knew that Sakura is a medical ninja being trained by her. As Naruto walked down towards the mansion, he sensed someone behind him. He spun around to find no other than Neji Hyuga of the Hyuga clan standing behind him with a grin on his face.

* * *

"Is it really necessary to bring _him _along?" Kisame groaned.

"C'mon, cut the guy some slack" Hidan replied. "At least he gave us the jinchuriki's location." Deidara grinned at the defeated Kisame and the three began walking towards the Land of Rivers.

"So this jinchuriki...what do you know about him?" Hidan asked.

"Not much but rumors have it that he's the Nine-Tailed and he's pretty powerful. He trains with one of the Sannin named Master Jiraiya." Deidara informed.

Kisame grinned wickedly."Ah you mean that Nine-Tailed brat from the Leaf Village?"

"You know him Kisame?" Hidan asked, seemingly interested.

"Yes, him and I had a few encounters on some of my recent missions. That kid is pretty powerful and Jiraiya is going to make capturing him a little more difficult."

Deidara smiled. "Just leave it to me. Hanging with Sasori taught me how to deal with these sort of pests quickly." The three smiled wickedly as they neared the Land of Rivers. Their sinister plot has just begun.

* * *

"Hi Naruto!" Neji said in a voice Naruto recognized but wasn't Neji's.

"Konohamaru? Is that you?" Naruto asked, surprised at the young prodigy's growth.

Neji transformed into a giggling and grown up Konohamaru.

"Wow, after all this time and you still can't be fooled." Konohamaru said. Naruto smiled.

"So, what do you need Konohamaru?" Naruto asked. "It's not like you to come to me without a reason."

"Well I heard a rumor that you're about to set off with Master Jiraiya on an important A rank mission." Naruto's face turned blank. How could a rumor come so fast? Then a lightbulb went off in his head. Sakura. Naruto sighed and folded his arms behind his head.

"Now let me guess. You wanna come too?" Naruto tried. Konohamaru nodded his head.

"Please, just this once." Konohamaru begged and Naruto let out another sigh. He let his arms droop to his sides.

"Sure, why not. Might as well have a four-man squad." Konohamaru looked puzzled.

"Four-man squad?" he asked. Naruto nodded his head.

"Yep. I'm on my way to Grandma Tsunade's mansion right now to find Sakura. After that, I'm supposed to meet up with Pervy Sage at the gate." Naruto explained. "But since I ran into you and you wanna come along on the mission, I guess we'll both just go to Sakura." Konohamaru nodded and gave Naruto a wide grin. Naruto could easily tell how happy Konohamaru was at the idea of going on a mission with him and that pleased him too.

"Ok, let's go." Naruto exclaimed and the two both headed for Tsunade's mansion.

* * *

Sorry that's all for chapter 1 and I apologize for making it so short and full of dialogue. Hopefully the second chapter will be longer. I appreciate the reviews I've been getting and for you guys letting me know the mistakes I've made and the rules I've broken and I tried to fix them with the final copy of chapter 1. If there is still some problems, I'll get to it later but I've been receiving some private messages telling me to move on to chapter 2. Well that's all I have to say for now so see you guys in chapter 2.


	2. The Plot Unfolds

Naruto-Excalibur

Episode 1- The A-Ranked Mission

Hello to all my loving and compassionate fans who wish to continue to read my series. I promise to make sure that I make more episodes chapters in the future so don't think this episode is a one-time thing. Anyways, this episode is going to be longer and more action-packed so stay on your toes and read on if you can handle it. If you can't, bring your blanket and a couple of tissues.

Disclaimer: As I have said before, I don't own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. I just wish to make a version of what I would have thought the series should have gone.

* * *

"My lady, when should we get started with my training?" Sakura asked.

"In a minute" Tsunade replied. "Let me just finish the paperwork for Naruto's mission."

"Naruto has a mission? But I didn't see the others packing on my way here." Sakura responded, confused.

"It's only because he'll be leaving with Jiraiya."

_Jiraiya? He's back? It seems only yesterday when he came back with Naruto from their 2 year training_.

Out of nowhere, the door burst open with Naruto and Konohamaru rushing inside. They stop in the center of the room exhausted but bickering at each other.

"Yes, I won!" Naruto exclaimed.

Konohamaru didn't take that lightly. "What do you mean _you won_?" Konohamaru retorted.

"Well obviously I beat you here and you know it." Naruto boasted, trying to catch his breath. "Man that ramen really got me."

Tsunade smiled at the scene but Sakura thought differently.

"You knuckleheads! What the heck do you guys think you're doing?!" she hollered.

That seemed to calm the both of them down. Naruto then decided to speak up.

"Sakura, Pervy Sage came back and said that he wants me to come with him on an A-ranked mission. Konohamaru wanted to come too, especially since Ebisu sensei is sick, so I told him the more the merrier. But I wanted you to come along too!" he explained.

Sakura glared at Naruto then sighed.

"Is it ok with you, my lady?"

"Fine with me." Tsunade replied." We'll continue the training when we get back."

Sakura nodded and left with Naruto and Konohamaru. Eventually, they made it to the gate where Jiraiya stood. Jiraiya greeted them with a smile and Sakura gave him a evil stare as she remembered the time she went with him and Naruto to look for Sasuke and the things he did on that mission. Jiraiya seemed to notice this, so he responded with a even wider grin.

"Hey Sakura, long time no see!" Jiraiya greeted and Sakura grunted.

_Jeez, and I thought Tsunade's stare was scary, _Jiraiya thought.

"So this is the perverted sage Naruto told me about. Well it's nice to meet you." Konohamaru stated.

Jiraiya gave Naruto a cold look and Naruto crossed his arms.

"Well it's not like you're going to change your ways anyway Pervy Sage." Naruto pouted.

"Shutup!" Jiraiya replied and with that they left the Hidden Leaf Village.

* * *

"Um Pervy Sage, what is our mission anyway?" Naruto asked. Half an hour had passed as they walked and there was no place to be found. He thought for the whole team when he asked the question.

"We're heading for the Hidden Star Village located in the Land of Bears. We need to escort a special caravan to the Village Hidden in the Stones," Jiraiya explained. "I intentionally picked this mission for your training Naruto."

"Why me?" Naruto asked as he sped up to Jiraiya.

"Well knowing you, you have no lack of respect whatsoever to any legendary figures such as myself." Jiraiya said.

Naruto pouted. "Well why should I show respect to someone who stares at naked women for a stupid novel then hide it by calling it research?"

Jiraiya's face turned red and he turned to Naruto and snagged his jacket.

"Why you little ungrateful misfit..." Jiraiya's voice trailed off when Sakura attempted to try to stop the situation from getting out of hand.

"Stop it, both of you." she tried and watched as it successfully worked. Jiraiya began cooling down and released his death grip on Naruto's jacket. "Now please continue." Sakura insisted.

Jiraiya sighed but continued anyway. "So as I was saying, you have no respect for legendary figures so I've arranged for you to accompany me on this mission. The Hidden Stone Village is one of the great Kage nations. Just like the Hokage, they have a similar position known as the Tsuchikage."

"Tsuchikage?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. The current Tsuchikage is Onoki of Both Scales. He is the third Tsuchikage and you are to treat him with the upmost respect. Got it Naruto?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I heard ya the first time." Naruto responded, still keeping his arms crossed. Jiraiya sighed as they kept walking towards the Village Hidden in the Stars.

* * *

"Now you're probably wondering why I summoned the three of you the week before the Chunin Exams, right?" Tsunade asked as she scanned the three she summoned. They were all in the Hokage's office with Shizune right next to Tsunade. Shikamaru spoke up.

"Yeah. the final touches to the exam preparations are almost done. Why do you need _my_ help?"

"Well, the three of you have worked with Naruto three years ago, so I think you all know that if I summon you to go to his aid, that means that something huge is happening." Tsunade informed. Kiba sighed as he knew she was right.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. But didn't he leave with a Sannin?" he asked.

"Yes, but I don't think Jiraiya can hold is own against three members of the Akatsuki." Tsunade replied. "Now your mission is simple. Go after Naruto and Jiraiya and make sure that the caravan arrives safely."

"I have a question. If you don't mind my asking, how exactly did you know that three Akatsuki members are heading for them?" Neji asked.

"Well the Hidden Valley Village and I are friends and they happened to see the Akatsuki walking by. They knew about the mission and they thought it would be best to send word to me." Tsunade explained. "That's where you guys come in. You know what to do. Start heading out immediately."

"Sure thing." Kiba said and the three left Tsunade's office and in a few minutes, the village.

* * *

Thanks to all who read up to this point. I'm going to put part three up in a few minutes since I got nothing important I feel like doing (I'm a thirteen-year-old for crying out loud. What did you expect?) and I'm getting good reviews. Part three will be the longest and most interesting of the three and I apologize for not keeping my promise about making this chapter action-packed. I really _really_ promise to make chapter three a chapter worthy of your attention. Also, check out this fanfic I found called the Wanderers by D4rKn3sS. Without that fanfic, I wouldn't have the energy to log in and finish this chapter. Well thanks for your support and see you all in chapter three.


	3. The Suprise Attack

Naruto-Excalibur

Episode 1- The A-Ranked Mission

What I really plan on doing is saving the action-packed part for the next episode. But for this chapter, I'm going to try to set up all the scenes so you can fully understand what's going on. Also, this is going to be the last chapter in this episode. The next episode should be out and completed in a couple of days.

Disclaimer: Oh, and before I forget, I still don't own Naruto or it's sequel because it originated from a manga in Japan and I'm an American who just wants to share his version of the series.

Forewarning: I just wanted to alert you that there are some characters that you might not remember or recognize in the Naruto series in which you'd want to find out before you get confused. So before you read the third chapter, make sure you have some reference site open just in case.

What I Would Have Done Differently: If I owned this series, I would have set Orochimaru with an Akatsuki-like team name the Sound Ninja 9. It would consist of Kimmimaro, Sakon, Udon, Tayuya, Kabuto, Kidomaru, Sasuke, Jirobo, and Orochimaru himself.

* * *

The four finally made it into the Hidden Star Village. Once they reached the entrance, Konohamaru stopped them.

"Something wrong?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yeah, what is it Konohamaru?" Naruto added.

"Well, uh, you see, I have to go use the bathroom." Konohamaru giggled nervously. The other three's face dropped and Sakura let out a sigh.

"I'll take him. You guys just go on ahead." Sakura suggested and Naruto and Jiraiya nodded.

"Hurry!" Konohamaru begged, clutching his part with both his hands.

"Ok, come on." Sakura ushered as she and Konohamaru went into some bushes.

"Pervy Sage, if you don't mind, I would like to find an old friend of mine." Naruto asked as the remaining two entered the Star Village.

"Ok Naruto, but I think it would be best to visit the Hoshikage first." Jiraiya suggested.

"They have a new Hoshikage?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, and you're about to meet him right now." Jiraiya said. Right as he finished, they entered the Hoshikage's residence. There Naruto spotted someone he knew dressed in white robes.

"Sumaru!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto? Is that you?" Sumaru asked.

* * *

"Yeah, and now we're supposed to escort one of your caravans to the Hidden Stone Village." Naruto explained.

The three settled and sat on a rug in the center of the shelter. Sumaru nodded and stood up.

"This way." he beckoned and the two obeyed.

Sumaru led them outside the residence and around the continued forward until they spotted a hut with a caravan in front of it. Surrounding the caravan were 6 people, a few of which Naruto remembered.

"Mizura, Hokuto, it's been a while!" Naruto exclaimed.

"N-Naruto, is that you?" Hokuto asked. Naruto approached them and grinned as the two of them had shocked faces from their reunion.

* * *

"It seems as though the ninja have reached the Star Village." Zetsu informed. "Good."

Pain responded. "The plan will begin very soon."

"But there is one problem." Zetsu said. "There are three more ninja of the same village heading after them. I think they know we're onto them." Pain sighed.

_Let's see. Who to send to deal with the problem_, he thought.

"Let me take care of it." Sasori asked.

"Alright, but make it quick. I have an assignment for you." Pain replied.

Sasori nodded and slowly left the hideout.

"Pain, do you really think Sasori can handle these leaf ninja on his own?" Kakuzu asked Pain as Sasori's disappeared in the forest ahead. Pain turned to Kakuzu and nodded.

"Of course. Sasori's abilities are extraordinary and like I you should entrust him with this task. Normally in this circumstance I would have sent Itachi, but Sasori will be a great decoy for the three leaf ninja that decided to but in." Pain explained. "Don't worry, Sasori won't be long. He hates to be kept and keep others waiting."

To that, Sasori continued walking with a wicked grin on his face as he listened to Pain's explanation.

* * *

"Ok, we shouldn't be far from the others." Neji stated as he jumped off another branch. The three ninja sped at a rapid pace, hoping to keep up with the others.

"How far are we?" Kiba asked, energy draining from him after a while of insane speeding.

"We're almost there." Neji replied.

"What exactly are we heading for anyway?" Shikamaru asked.

"They're escorting a caravan from the Hidden Star Village. I believe that Naruto might still be there." Neji responded. Shikamaru nodded and the three headed on.

* * *

"All right, is everyone ready to go?" Jiraiya asked as a dozen people including Hokuto and Mizura, who explained to Naruto how he doesn't need his crutches anymore.

[ "Well ever since you left, I was thinking about how helpless I was, but I knew that the star training was to blame. Every day I relied on Hokuto to help me motivate myself to get out of bed. Sumaru noticed what was going on and took pity on me. He used a form of medical ninjutsu to restored the parts of my body that became severely damaged from the star training. He had just became Hoshikage, and he took the time to master the technique." Mizura explained.

"Yeah, I understand all that, but I have one question. How did Sumaru become Hoshikage?" Naruto asked.

"Simple, because his heritage. He is the son of two heroes, and he and everybody else believes he can restore the honor this village once had." Mizura answered, his eyes beaming towards Sumaru. Naruto was beaming too. Not only was he proud of Sumaru, he admired him. It's only been 2 years since Naruto visited the Star Village, and Sumaru is the Hoshikage. Naruto grinned at him and that caught Sumaru's attention. He walked up to them with a smile on his face.

"Did Mizura tell you everything?" Sumaru asked. Naruto nodded still beaming at him.

"If you keep your eyes like that, it'll be sure to fall out." Sumaru said, trying not to look at Naruto's eyes. Naruto finally calmed down, and he stared at Jiraiya talking to the local women that happened to be around them.

_That pervy sage, I knew this was gonna happen. We can't have one mission together where he doesn't stare at women. Man, this bites_.

Sumaru laughed and leaned against the caravan. "I see Master Jiraiya is familiarizing himself with the local women, huh?" he asked.

"That pervy sage. Knowing him, he must be trying to spend the rest of the day with every one of them." Naruto said, disappointed. Sumaru noticed and put another smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Naruto. Jiraiya's time in this life is not very long. Let him enjoy it, like you should enjoy yours." Sumaru explained, trying to motivate him. Naruto pouted and let out a sigh.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. That pervy sage is pretty old, but not as old as Grandma Tsunade." Naruto said, still pouting.

Sumaru chuckled and stared at Jiraiya. The two stood there until Hokuto spoke up.

"Ok Sumaru, we're all set." Hokuto said, with her eyes closed, her left hand clutching her right behind her back, and a wide smile. Sumaru grinned back.

"Ok, you and Mizura are in charge. I'm entrusting the two of you and Naruto to escort the caravan safely." Sumaru said, still smiling.

_Jeez, what's wrong with these guys, _Naruto thought.

"Don't worry," Hokuto responded. "We'll make sure the caravan is safe, Lord Hoshikage." Naruto scratched his head as he tried to understand what's going on. Sumaru, still smiling, walked up to Hokuto and planted a kiss on her cheek. Naruto's eyes popped out as he watched.

"Huh?!" he blurted out.

Hokuto was still smiling and she smiled even wider at that. Naruto still looked puzzled, but Mizura was grinning too.

_I bet you it's going to be like this the whole mission_, Naruto thought. Naruto turned to see Jiraiya walk up to them.]

"Oh, finally done with you _research_ huh?!" Naruto asked, crossing his arms. Jiraiya tried to put on an innocent face as he tried to explain.

"Hehe, oh, well um..." Jiraiya trailed off then his expression changed to a serious one.

"This is no time to be joking around. Let's go." Jiraiya said and started walking away from the caravan.

_Says the guy who was just flirting with girls a minute ago_, Naruto thought.

"Hey, what about Sakura and Konohamaru? Should we wait for them?" Naruto asked.

"We'll meet up with them outside the village." Jiraiya replied and Naruto nodded.

As the caravan started to move, Naruto remembered something.

"Sumaru! Wait, I need to ask you something!" Naruto shouted. Sumaru began heading for the Hoshikage's residence when Naruto stopped him.

"What is it?" Sumaru asked. The caravan halted with the civilians confused.

"I just wanna know...what happened to Akahoshi?" he asked. Sumaru turned around and smiled.

"Put right in the Hidden Star Prison." Sumaru replied which left a sigh f relief come out of Naruto.

"Don't worry Naruto, we'll take care of things from now on. Just make sure the caravan arrives at its destination." Sumaru said, still smiling. He then turned and headed for the Hoshikage's residence.

* * *

Shikamaru leaped off another branch and sped up to Kiba.

"Do you sense it?" Shikamaru asked. Kiba took a while to sniff the air then he slowly nodded. The three were in a formation organized by Shikamaru. Kiba in the lead because of his sense of smell, Shikamaru in the center to hit the enemy with the Shadow Possession Jutsu while the enemy is distracted by his two comrades, and finally Neji in the back because of the Byakugan which can detect enemies trying to sneak up on them from behind. Shikamaru made a similar formation during the time when he was the only Chunin, and now he decided since they had to keep a lookout for Akatsuki, the team should wisely use it again.

"What should we do?" Kiba whispered.

"Just let this play out." Shikamaru answered as he let Kiba speed ahead.

Shikamaru slowed down to let Neji catch up to him. Neji's energy was draining every second since he was using the Byakugan for quite some time. As soon as the two were in whisper range, Neji nodded.

"I see. So you can sense it too?" Neji whispered. Shikamaru nodded as he explained to him what he told Kiba. Neji nodded to that and Shikamaru sped up and the three were back in formation, unaware of the identity of the incoming threat. Then suddenly, Neji gasped and tripped on a branch and slowly fell. He almost hit the ground before Shikamaru came to the rescue.

"Sorry, let's keep moving." Neji said, panting heavily.

"No way Neji, you must be exhausted." Kiba responded, walking up to the two.

"Yeah, Neji. Using your Byakugan for this long must have drained your energy. Let's rest here." Shikamaru said.

The camp was set up in less than ten minutes with a nice fire blazing. Neji layed on the ground with his eyes closed, but still heavily panting. Just as the group grew weary, two kunai knives flew straight towards Neji.

"Look out!" Kiba shouted as he tossed two kunai knives at the ones heading for Neji. All four knives collided and dropped to the grass below which woke Neji up. He crawled to his two teammates who were standing up and scanning the area for the attackers. Neji rested against a tree near them, still weak from using Byakugan for so long. After a short while, two Sound ninja walked out of a clump of bushed across from them.

One of the ninja wore a mask similar to Kakashi's mask but was blue. The ninja had red hair that was spiky like Naruto's, a sleveless red chunin vest, a sound ninja headband, black pants, and had a the purple knot that Orochimaru usually wears on his back. Not only did he have hair like Naruto, he looked like Naruto too. The group gasped as they realized that his partner was no other than Sasuke himself.

* * *

Well it took me a long time to finish this and I'm sorry that I didn't finish sooner but I had a lot to do and never had enough time. When I finish with the next episode, I'll be sure to post it right away. If you have any questions or wish to hear about what's going to be in the next episode, message me or leave a review and I'll try to respond as soon as possible. Thanks for reading this episode and I hope you liked it.


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